Those criticizing the Australian bowlers need to think again. Even a weak Pakistani batting line up put on three consecutive scores of 300 plus against this invincible bowling attack as home.
Yasir Shah of all people scored a century against this bowling attack. The biggest factor in my view behind India's success has been their bowling attacks strategy and successful planning which caused the Australians to score at such an uncharacteristic slow run rate, Australia did not cross 400 at all in this series and they would actually score 500-600 runs plus for fun against most teams therefore giving their bowlers the freedom to attack relentlessly, this was not the case this time as they just did not have enough runs to play with in this series
I have a slightly different opinion on this. In fact, I think it may well be perceived as a hot take.
As much as Cummins was the bowler of the series and as much as IND took 20 wickets regularly I would actually start with fixing AUS batting. Sure you do not win Test matches due to your batting, but you can certainly lose them due to it. And I feel they have too many passengers in the side.
As much as some bowlers from each side stood out, I am just not a believer in the idea that many sides/bowlers will be able to take 20 wickets in a repeatable manner on these AUS pitches/conditions without batsmen playing false shots/having lapses/soft dismissals. Batting is as much about concentration and controlling the controllables as it as about talent (i.e. stroke making/hand eye coordination). In absence of elaborate movement or elaborate bounce, the likelihood of waiting for an unplayable one is lower than in SEN (comparatively).
Due to this (I posted this on another thread) the % of controllables is higher in AUS (for able batsmen willing to apply themselves). In other words, playing the long game and being circumspect about attacking works better. Further, the pitches have just enough bounce and pace that scoring is easy once set with small margins for error which AUS feast on when touring teams arrive and lose the discipline after a session or two and go searching for wickets (10/10 to IND in not giving any width to AUS).
Full marks to IND that they made sure to bowl tight to AUS. But AUS too, in absence of freebies, should have looked to bat north of 100 overs and tire IND bowlers (which they partly did and it kind of showed in the injuries column). Their technical prowess in regards to batting, some selection choices and an inability to cope with large barren periods without much runs contrasted with the boring cricket IND were willing to play more frequently.
Have said it too many times now already on various threads but again, AUS like to outlast and exhaust their oppositions in AUS through tireless attritional cricket, the reputation of playing in AUS, the crowd and the decadent sledges/in your face style.
IND showed the benefits of being fully prepared to play the long game. They were happy to reel in their shots and also bowl hard lengths instead of going searching for wickets through magic deliveries. The result was an extremely frustrated AUS side second-guessing itself and a palpably flustered set of commentators. And finally, when the time came, IND showed their stroke making ability.
On a side note, I would not want to be a budding 17/18 year old fast bowler in AUS right now. I tip my hat to Cummins, but I would not want to go through this kind of toil to just keep my side in the game. The pitches really need to change if the AUS team do not want other tourists to start trying to take steps to emulate the blueprint of avoiding soft dismissals through attritional cricket.
In some sense, IND did better cycling through a few different bowlers even though it was borne out of necessity. Do not think this series has been kind on the bowlers for AUS and would likely have resulted in injuries to IND side too had Ishant/Shami played as many given their age/injury record (Bumrah, Yadav and Saini already went down). A subliminal message here could be to pack a larger squad for future AUS tours (for all tourists) with more than just 2-3 key pacers and rotate them.
TL;DR just do not think these conditions are great for taking 20 wickets in a repeatable and predictable without lapses from batsmen.
